The friends and family plan is alive and well again? When has it ever ended that’s my question. Once again the majority in the legislature are pointing the finger at Giambra as the only problem, they refuse to look in the mirror. We need to do a review of all the jobs created by them in recent months.

I am all for eliminating patronage positions, waste, fraud and abuse but this is simply a power grab. Besides, where have they been or the last 1 1/2 years? Are these legislators just now realizing they ran on a platform of reform and are suddenly up for re-election? They have they been to busy creating their own friends and family plan and voting on laws like the apprenticeship law that costs the taxpayers more end more for projects, holding up projects till they have a PLA in place, voting to raise your real property taxes by 2.7 million, voting to keep the sales tax not just for one year but for two.

This is already gearing up to be another fun and spin election year as they struggle to cover their tracks and create new issues to give us the perception that they are doing a great job for us.

News - Patronage? Giambra Says That’s Ridiculous

Some Erie County lawmakers say the friends and family plan is alive and well again, but Erie County Executive Joel Giambra says he’s simply hiring qualified people.

Some county legislators are pushing a measure that would allow them to sign off on any hire or contract awarded under ten-thousand dollars. Right now the County Executive does not need their approval for such moves.

While Erie County Executive Joel Giambra says he has not yet seen the legislation, he says as chief executive officer of the county, he should have the ability to make decisions without the legislature’s interference. “I think what you see happening here is people are trying to create issues as we begin to enter the election season. They’re trying to manufacture issues.”

“That’s not true,” countered democratic legislator Michele Iannello. “I was thinking about this law right after I was elected into office, and what I found was that I came in trying to make change and do reform and found out the legislature doesn’t have the authority to do those kinds of things.”

The legislature’s move comes after word that Erie County’s retired budget director was put back on the county payroll. “I absolutely brought Joe Passafiume back on board,” said Giambra. “He’s one of the most dedicated, conscientious, trained financial professionals.” Asked whether he tried to get the former budget director placed in another position and when he couldn’t accomplish that, found this spot for him, Giambra would say only that he would have moved mountains to have him part of the team. But, he added, “did I try to circumvent anything? No, it’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Asked whether he would veto the legislation if passed by the county legislature, Giambra says he’s not sure yet what he would do, but added that “the executive needs certain authority to run the government. There are times when the legislature has ideas and thoughts that don’t make sense when it comes to the day to day operations of government.”

When Giambra was asked point blank, “is there patronage in your administration,” the county executive responded, “that’s one of the most ridiculous questions that I’ve heard.” He said patronage is not a bad thing. He said that he hires people to perform and that “if you’re not qualified, you don’t get a chance.”

Iannello said this is not about taking the county executive’s authority away. “This is a mechanism to balance out the authority between the legislative body and the administration.” She said she believes she has the votes to override any veto should it come to that. If that were to happen, the measure would then go to the voters.